


The Layers of Our Life

by brokenmemento



Category: Madre Solo Hay Dos | Daughter From Another Mother (TV)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Different perspectives, Established Relationship, F/F, Light Angst, Post Season 1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29514828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenmemento/pseuds/brokenmemento
Summary: A look at the relationship between Ana and Mariana through the eyes of the people that love them the most.
Relationships: Ana Servín/Mariana Herrera
Comments: 20
Kudos: 69





	1. Los Ojos de Elena

**Author's Note:**

> *Look, I'm obsessed with these two (more specifically Ana) so you all will probably get very tired of me. Sorry?

There’s this thing about moths, you see. Pesky little creatures, always flapping their shabby little wings toward a flickering flame or prospect of sustenance. Not very pretty either, the creatures. 

Elena though? Elena is exotic and tall and can turn anyone’s head usually. When she walks by the world, the world looks back, curious. So why is it that she feels like she’s donned a pair of drab wings and been using every ounce of strength and power to stay moving in Mariana’s orbit?

She’s there when her water breaks and as they rush along, some weird little part of her feels like this may just be happening to them too. That if she proves herself here, Mariana might look at her with those big brown eyes and finally understand why Elena has felt this way all along. That they, in a weird way, can be this little created family.

But Mariana gets another family in an odd and heartbreaking way. Elena watches it unfold like a train wreck and the life she thought she’d brought into the world turns out to be another’s woman’s flesh and blood. 

In those nights after the exchange, Elena has never felt more sympathetic than she does now. To watch Mariana fuss with her child who doesn’t even know her, to be exhausted and flustered when moments ago, it had all been _so easy_. 

Well, that’s not exactly right, Elena is sure because motherhood looks hard as hell. But she helps where she can even though Mariana is very good at pushing her away. Like drifting out on a tide but then pulled back in time and time again. 

So really, Elena is rather preoccupied with being close once more when she experiences Ana Servìn for the first time. It’s only fitting that after the train wreck of the initial exchange of words between them, Elena’s experience of her is continually not pleasant. 

Mostly because the moth act that she’s been doing with Mariana? She sees it happening with Mariana too, the uptight and severe little woman being the recipient. 

And god, Elena is losing Mariana, isn’t she? Every single second she stays in that house in that insane situation is adding to another scenario where Elena wants more and Mariana pushes her away. 

The first time she understands it is the night Mariana brings her plus one. The night of her gig with one of the new recruits, a small little club but attracting a higher paying clientele. 

It’s pretty innocent at first, with the woman mostly staying quiet to Elena’s good-natured mood. Mariana on the other hand seems to be like a hovering mother, getting wide eyes when her friend eats chocolate shrooms and looking shocked at the blonde’s admittance to smoking pot. 

_Not so straight-laced, that one,_ Elena thinks. For once, amused. These rich types always have double lives. 

She looks even less of a threat planted on a chaise lounge and staring at the ceiling most of the time. Elena rolls her eyes and shakes her head between songs at the way Mariana stays within close proximity, having trouble leaving her parental tendencies behind it seems. Interesting that it’s to a nearly forty-year-old woman but whatever. 

Elena notices something askew as they’re packing up and Mariana is trying to rouse her companion into an upright position. Again, another head shake. Babysitting adults is the worst. 

Then next time Elena looks up though, Mariana and Ana are hunched over, a little too close for her liking. She can’t hear what’s being said over the song blasting from the speakers, but body language makes her form a whole slew of assumptions. 

Mariana is not dense, far from it, but sometimes she lacks social cues and her newish friend is looking a little too intently for Elena’s liking. Before she knows it, (or Mariana either judging by the look on her face) Ana has lunged forward and pressed her lips to a stunned Mariana. 

And damn, what a kiss. Both of the woman’s hands are on the side of Mariana’s face, like she’s holding on for dear life or that she could disappear any second. While Mariana isn’t exactly moving, she isn’t exactly pulling away either. 

Jealousy, thick and pointed, shoots through Elena like a jagged dagger. It shouldn’t be surprising and it shouldn’t hurt because Mariana has been kissing her and telling her they’re not girlfriends for the last six months, but it does ache worse than she wants it to.

Elena would like to not care. She’d like to be the type of woman who can let stuff go without it affecting her much. With Mariana, that’s not the case. 

Finally, Ana pulls away and starts acting like an idiot, rushing onstage to sing off-key. The look on Mariana’s face makes Elena’s envy spike. _She never looks at me like that._

So when Ana Servìn falls on her gorgeous, perfect face, Elena can’t help but cock an eyebrow at first but then rush to her aid the next. She looks down at her as both she and Mariana notice the gash on her head. 

_She’s an idiot,_ Elena thinks. _But somehow Mariana likes her more than me._

This sentiment begins Elena’s intense dislike for the poised, petite woman whom Mariana seems to have latched onto rather roughly. 

—-//—-

Elena is a glutton for punishment. Really, she must be since she keeps showing up at things that involve Mariana and her weird new life. But maybe Elena also can’t help herself because, with each invite, her hope builds until she’s packed her chest with it to cover the old wounds.

The final nail in the coffin, what lets Elena know that Mariana is for sure out of her grasp, is the christening. Of course, it starts out innocent and fun, just like the club had been, but anytime Ana Servìn is in proximity, Elena has learned that things will quickly go to shit. 

While she may have tattoos, play in a band, and dabble in the occasional recreational drug, the bad girl persona she may have adopted doesn’t even compare to the lethality of the blonde. Ana is more sly in her danger, more cunning with her behavior. She doesn’t wear it on her sleeve. She can deceive the world. 

So when Elena sees Mariana’s face change to hold more affection than has ever been directed to her, she knows she’s lost the game. Mariana is in love. 

It becomes apparent as these insanely faux wedding-like vows get uttered and Elena has a front-row seat to the car wreck of her relationship with Mariana. Right there in front of her, the whole time! The threat she suspected but didn’t really think to watch for. 

Mariana and Ana seem so polar opposite though, so characteristically different. How they’ve ever managed to forge a friendship considering their different backgrounds and ways they’ve lived their lives is beyond comprehension. At least Elena has more of the free spirit vibe that Mariana has always had. Can Ana ever boast the same?

“You’re in love with Mrs. Perfect,” Elena tells Mariana, whose face holds so much confusion, Elena almost laughs. “You’re confused. It’s not real.”

The words are stinging, Elena knows. But she’s having trouble processing the hurt of something that’s been unveiling itself for quite a while now. Maybe even since the beginning, when the petite blonde busted up their sunbathing experience with judgemental eyes. 

Elena should have read the signs, should have internalized them, but she’s been confused too, has been hoping against hope that what’s been happening isn’t real like she’s claiming. 

She isn’t sure how many girls she’d gone through at the beginning of understanding her own sexuality, so expecting Marianna to latch onto her first thing might have been a bit of a gamble. But seeing her so head over heels for this one, so drastically different in every conceivable way, is a bit of a shock.

Ana chatters away in the distance to her henpecking crew, motioning broadly across the spread she’s arranged. Elena shakes her head, plants the seed of disquiet in Mariana’s head. 

Because dammit, Elena has a heart too and while Mariana’s seems to be floating, Elena’s is crashing to the ground, scattering into a million pieces. She’s sure she’ll get over it (she always does) but right now, everything stings a little. 

-—//—-

The last stage of grief is acceptance and Elena supposes it’s time for that finally. The process of losing Mariana as a potential love interest has been gradually chipped away, so when her friend asks to bring her new girlfriend to the club she’s playing at on the weekend, Elena begrudgingly agrees. 

She sees them sitting at the bar during the set, Mariana back in that sinful black leather jacket and faded jeans. Never once does her hand stray from the tight pant-covered thigh of her date or constantly gripping the very stylish sequined blazer possessively. 

They are jovial and pretty drunk (well one of them anyway) by the time Elena walks offstage and makes her way over to the bar where they sit. Mariana catapults herself into Elena’s arms in a fierce hug. 

“You sounded so great tonight,” the woman says but Elena can barely process the feeling of having Mariana in her arms when the one she’s brought is casting watchful eyes at the exchange. Under the scrutiny, Elena works to extricate herself from Mariana’s embrace. She smiles at Mariana and does a saccharine one behind her. 

“Glad you liked it. What did you think, Ana?” Elena tries to engage her with a conversation. To make an effort.

Ana’s eyes narrow as she paints on her best, fake obviously, smile, but Elena will take it if it keeps things civil and doesn’t cause a scene. She likes excitement just as much as the next person, but tonight hardly seems worth it. 

“If Mariana loves it, I love it,” Ana tells her, her insincere expression changing to such as she looks over to Mariana standing beside her. To punctuate the statement, she reaches for her hand and brings it up to her lips, kissing it softly. Now it’s Elena’s turn to scrutinize. 

Mariana, of course, gets that big dopey grin Elena’s seen her smiling more and more lately (and it _is_ kind of nice to see, even if it isn’t for her) before she motions to the restrooms. “I’ll be right back. Keep her company for me!” meaning Ana and then retreats to the sound of Elena’s protesting but to no avail. 

Ana regards her cooly yet says nothing, instead opting to take a drink out of her rocks glass, something clear and cold in it with a lime curl on top. Elena crosses her arms and looks around, people milling about but not exactly paying attention. Meaning she’s stuck with this woman at least five minutes, if not more. 

“So, you and Mariana,” Elena nods as if she’s coming to an understanding in her own head. 

“Me and Mariana,” Ana confirms and takes another sip. When she smiles this time, Elena actually believes it. 

“She told me about the christening,” Elena shoots back, taps a foot, looks around for any sign that she’ll be saved from this whole experience. 

Ana’s face changes and her jaw flexes as she looks down. “That was months ago.” 

“Sort of hard to forget though…”

“You think I don’t know that?” Ana snaps back, making Elena jerk her attention to those crystalline blue eyes. The smaller woman sighs and then sets her glass back on the bar. “I’ve made mistakes. I’m working to fix them.”

“Everyone makes mistakes,” Elena rolls her eyes and walks up next to where Ana sits, turning to put her elbows on the bar and face the decent-sized crowd getting ready for the next set. She shakes her head then turns. “I loved her you know.”

Might as well be honest. Not that it can make things much more messed up than they already are. The admission is frank, welling up and out before she can really catch it though. 

Ana shifts, runs the fingers of her right hand through her blonde hair, then looks down again. What she’s just tucked away falls down across an eye as she gazes at the floor and fine, maybe Elena can see why Mariana is smitten. Mrs. Perfect is a gorgeous woman that has since dropped the ‘r’ in her title. 

“I do too,” hits Elena’s ears and she startles a bit.

She’s not sure what she expected to hear but the candid admission is not one of them. Figuring out how to go forward with this is 100% awkward because Mariana is showing no signs of arriving back from the ladies' room. 

“You mean it?” 

Ana snorts, irritated. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“One minute you’re telling Mariana that she’s obnoxious, the next you want her to move in. On one hand, she’s your best friend but the second she says she’s in love with you, you tell her to get out.” Elena ticks off the examples on her fingers, turning to squarely look at Ana who has shrunk a few degrees in bravado. “So forgive me for being a little reluctant to offer congratulations.”

Elena doesn’t miss the way Ana looks over her shoulder, no doubt ready for Mariana to return as well. “Lord, does she tell you everything?” Ana mutters under her breath when it’s clear she won’t be saved. 

“Not really. Not anymore.” Elena waves the bartender over, very ready for a drink if this is to continue on. 

“I’ll not get into a territorial match with you because Mariana is a grown woman capable of making her own choices. It’s her life. I’m just happy that she’s choosing to have me in it,” Ana says rather seriously, all fierce eyes and no-nonsense eyebrows cutting across the rest of her facial features. 

Elena’s beer arrives and she feels a little more centered with it in her hands as she works to think of what to say to _that_. Because she’s not a hard woman that holds onto grudges. Despite her own confusing feelings toward everything happening, she does want Elena to be happy. 

She spins to face Ana and levels her with a look. “If you hurt her, I’ll do the same to you.” It’s pretty standard fare to make the threat to the person with intentions toward the person you care about. Plus Elena knows even though she’s scrappy herself, she doesn’t want to cross Ana Servìn either. 

“I hadn’t intended to,” Ana answers, twirls her glass around with a well-manicured hand. _Short nails._ That’s when it all hits Elena with a finality she hasn’t felt until now. 

“Fine, you can have her,” Elena waves off, more to convince herself that this is the end of the road and she doesn’t much care. Of course, they’ll still be friends, but Ana is right: what matters is that Mariana is happy. 

“Wow, thanks,” Ana’s voice drips with sarcasm, but Elena actually sees her smile a little. 

“This doesn’t mean I like you or anything.” It’s not that she’s intensely hated the woman in front of her, rather just wondering what hold she has over Mariana. Elena supposes she can’t fault Mariana for it. Other than a bit of a grating attitude, Ana is pretty much the total package. 

“I suppose it’s good I wasn’t expecting that.” Ana casts her eyes over to where Elena is, amusement gracing her features. 

_She’s joking_ , Elena realizes. Hag from the hospital who has turned into the other mother lover is jesting with her. 

Before Elena can let her own smile take over, Mariana is bounding back from her little jaunt and wedging herself between the two women. Her arms go around Ana and she leans in dreamily. “Sorry, every stall was full. Did you play nice?” 

Ana brushes Mariana’s hair back behind her ear and looks over to where Elena stands. She cocks her head to the side. “Now why wouldn’t I?” 

Mariana looks back to Elena, almost seeming to ask for confirmation that Ana hasn’t behaved in a snotty way. Rolling her eyes, Elena shrugs in agreement that yes, they’ve managed to not rake their nails (or lack thereof) along one another’s eyes. 

“Alright, very wealthy girlfriend of Mariana’s,” Elena says, turning back to the bar and motioning the bartender. “You can buy this round to solidify our newfound friendship.” 

Elena isn’t exactly taking the diction to heart, but she knows she can play nice as long as this is something Mariana wants to pursue because love does that too—makes a person also do things they never thought they would do. 

When the drinks arrive, Ana raises a glass (wraps her arm tighter around Mariana which causes Elena to raise an eyebrow as those blue eyes fixate on her) and offers a toast. “To new beginnings.” 

Elena barks out a laugh but drinks the tequila, chasing it with the salty lime wedge quickly. She pointedly ignores the way both of her company does the same, but from each other’s mouths. 

_God, people are dumb when they’re in love._ She smiles. 


	2. Los Ojos de Juan Carlos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juan Carlos's point of view

Juan Carlos did not use to be an observant man. He took the world as it came to him, never digging into it more. This made him feel content for many years. Until it didn’t. 

He had observed Ana in college and had won her over. Since he had her, what else was there to do? They were both driven, hard-working people, and their marriage managed just fine. For a while, he was happy. 

But at some point, Juan Carlos opened his eyes and there were two kids and hardly ever the wife that had caught his attention so many years earlier. Instead of absence making the heart grow fonder, part of him grew a little bitter toward Ana—at how she was able to go on just fine without them most of the time. 

In the wake of the void Ana often created, Juan Carlos began to see more than he ever had. How much the children were being raised by the help (even he isn’t so shallow to think he is a present parent all the time either) and that the wife he had proudly taken permanently from searching for other arms had let go at some point even if she said she hadn’t. 

So he noticed Teresa, fun and full of life Tere, who made him feel noticed and alive in a way Ana hadn’t in a while. Which led to his affair. Which led to their unraveling. Because while he was busy thinking about how to keep his own extracurriculars to himself, Ana had slid back in with their new daughter (really, he couldn’t even tell Regina’s eyes weren’t a part of their own DNA) and two extra bodies. 

One morning they are sitting at the breakfast table, a family of four, and the next, what is supposed to be a family of five has somehow turned to seven. Regina and Mariana stay after Ana’s insistence it is only until Valentina is weaned. 

The thing about his wife too is that she has never been particularly good with people. At her job, sure, but not in the instant of making friends or having close relationships that are created by friends. 

Which makes Mariana’s presence all the more baffling as time goes on. Juan Carlos quite likes the girl and of course, he loves Valentina, but her existence in their household drives the point home further that he doesn’t exactly know his wife like he used to. 

So yes, his eyes are more open and he notices. He sees the way closed off Ana goes from calling Mariana a bothersome annoyance to concocting stories to keep her in the house indefinitely. How social status doesn’t matter in the blink of an eye and it’s as if Ana has never looked down on someone else for their lack. How the woman who isn’t a necessarily affectionate person initiates touch and frequently. 

Rules and lists go out the door, replaced by playing it by ear and going with the flow. He’s not sure he’s ever seen her acquiesce in the way she does to Mariana. It’s almost as if something falls apart on Ana that used to work so hard to keep everything in order. 

He sees the sparks of a woman he likes, one he is excited by because of the changes she’s undergoing. But the thing about change is that if one is not paying careful attention, the differences can catch them by surprise. 

When it all falls apart, Juan Carlos wishes he could say that he has had the foresight to suspect what would be coming next. As he walks to the awaiting car and looks up at the balcony to his two teenage children, he can honestly say he had no idea it would go like this. 

If only he had taken the time to dig a little deeper. To see what was right under his nose the whole time. He wonders if Ana even has a clue. 

——//——

After the christening, life grows to be a weird mix of complicated and not. Complicated in the fact that Juan Carlos can’t seem to let go of whatever he’s forged with Tere and also in the regard that he’s pretty sure his estranged wife has more going on than meets the eye. 

Because she cheated too. Granted, he did screw things up first, but Ana has been no saint. The fact that she’s so worked up has given him time to think about the implication of such. 

He loves his wife, very much so. Part of him knows Ana does the same. However, somewhere along the way, they’ve lost each other in the shuffle of jobs and children. They’ve gone through the motions but let go of each other a little more along the way. 

For Juan Carlos, Tere has provided something that Ana hasn’t in a while. For Ana, Juan Carlos wonders what Mariana provides. Friendship, sure. But there’s something else between them that they’re both not speaking. There’s something larger going on between Ana and Mariana which no one seems to be able to categorize. 

Ana has been vague on the details. When he picks up the children right after he moves out, he inquires about Marianna—just to have something to say. At first, Ana won’t even speak the woman’s name, waving off his questions with a pinched face. 

_Something has happened then._ But whatever it is, Ana won’t speak it, especially to him. Nor will he speak about how she seems haunted, an almost imperceptible darkness under her eyes (not noticeable to anyone except for him) or the way the light has dimmed in her pale eyes. 

That goes on for a while and while some part of him feels lighter in their parting, something he’s sure he should feel guilty about, Ana seems to wither. Juan Carlos knows it’s not because of him though. He gleans enough from Tere one night.

“I’ve already said too much,” she frowns, her eyebrows severe and eyes dark. 

She busies herself over the stove and he finds himself putting both palms onto her shoulders. He feels her jolt and still under his big hands. 

“I don’t exactly know what I feel for Ana anymore, but I do know that I still care. She’s the mother of my children, Tere,” he soothes, trying for more. 

“She’s upset Mariana,” the woman bites out quickly but then he rounds to see the instant regret, the way those severe eyebrows furrow. “I told her it was just a phase.” The last words are muttered as she goes back to stirring. 

Juan Carlos ducks down, implores Tere with soft eyes. “That what is just a phase? Living with us?” He stops. “I mean with Ana?”

“But she’s not with Ana anymore. She’s been with her abuelita since the christening. Ana told her leave,” Tere’s voice cracks. She glances up at Juan Carlos, the wooden spoon immobile in her hand. 

“What’s happened exactly?” If his own protestations didn’t deter his wife at any juncture from Mariana being under their roof, what has caused a rift so large that Mariana is now an hour outside the city?

“Maybe you should ask Ana about that,” Tere suggests, huffs. “It’s not for me to say and Lord knows getting Mariana to tell it once was enough.”

Juan Carlos sighs and goes back to watching Tere stir. It smells delicious, but he can’t focus long enough to enjoy it. His mind works through the small bits and pieces he’s been given. His nosey nature wants to know more. 

——//——

“Ana, I have a right to know. Our children are involved in this too,” he tells her one time a few weeks later as he picks up the kids. They’re already in the car with headphones attached to their phones. 

“What does my love life have to do with you though?” Ana snaps haughtily and then crosses her hands over her chest, pursing her lips. 

Juan Carlos’ eyes go wide. “Your love life? So that’s what it is with her? You love her?”

“I’m in love with her,” Ana mutters and then casts her watery blue eyes toward Juan Carlos. “There’s a big difference between the two.” 

He watches her retreat back into the house, her slight form traveling quickly. He stands holding Valentina’s bag in stunned immobility. He somehow had expected to be able to move on from Ana. What he had not anticipated is Ana moving on from him.

——//——

It’s inevitable, really, when the transition occurs. From him being Ana’s partner to that role being filled by Mariana. Although it takes them a while, he realizes that he isn’t surprised to see her sitting in the passenger side of the car one weekend when Ana is dropping off the children.

He offers the woman a small wave from where he stands on the steps of his apartment, feeling no ill will toward her, oddly. The woman walking up with their daughter on her hip, crisp white sundress billowing, and sunglasses over her eyes, is a different story.

It’s not that he is necessarily angry with Ana anymore, just still a bit shocked with the changes he’s seen in her over the last year. Their daughter is toddling around now and the life they made together is a growing memory, but Juan Carlos no longer knows the woman who birthed her at all. How long had he been losing her without noticing?

“You look like you have an ease in your step that hasn’t been there for a while,” he comments with an eyebrow raised, shouldering Valentina’s bag and taking their daughter into his arms. “What’s she got you into this weekend? Solstice ceremony? Ashram retreat with couple’s massages to cleanse your chi?” He smiles a little at his own jest.

Ana removes her sunglasses from her eyes, pushing them upward which brushes the blonde strands of her hair back. He thinks about the time he said that Regina had the same eyes. How wrong he had been, the little girl’s belonging to the woman behind them. A life spent looking for something recognizable in someone else.

“I’m taking her away for the weekend,” Ana tilts her head, casts her eyes down. She refrains from looking back like Juan Carlos knows she wants to. Her face breaks into a smile and she rolls her shoulders. “Since her app was published, she’s essentially become...me.”

“Hopefully you’re doing a better job at making her want to come home to you than I did for you,” he throws out, another joke...sort of. 

“I miss her when she’s busy,” Ana deflects, looks somewhere over his head. Then she addresses the elephant in the room. Or outside. “It’s not that I didn’t want to come home to you. I just often felt like I was shit at everything.” She fixes him with a look. “Sometimes on parenting but a lot at being a wife.”

“And you’re doing better at being a girlfriend?” This time there is no malice in what Juan Carlos is asking. He genuinely wants to know. He’s seen Ana’s heart aching over the woman behind them. He supposes he wants her to be happy too.

“And you’re doing better as a boyfriend?” Ana counters, this time fixing him with a look. She knows he still sees Tere now and again. 

“It’s nothing official,” Juan Carlos shakes his head. As long as life is complicated, he’s sure it will always be that way between him and the woman who he used to break his marriage. 

Ana places her sunglasses back over her eyes. “You get the mother, I get the daughter. How funny life works out sometimes,” she comments. A breeze ruffles her hair. For a moment, Juan Carlos sees the woman he fell in love with. The one that belongs to someone else. 

“One day, maybe we can all be friends again?” he suggests. Unlikely anytime soon but maybe…

“That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Ana actually sounds genuine, her voice dreamy in the wondering of it. 

Maybe someday they’ll get there. Juan Carlos hopes it’s true. By the look on Ana’s face, she isn’t opposed to it either. 

“Go have a nice weekend with your girl,” Juan Carlos encourages her with a wave and finger pointed back to the SUV. 

The smile that breaks across Ana’s face lights her up as if it’s been turned on from inside her. So much so she even shows her teeth at his words. He hasn’t been able to get a smile like this from her in years. 

“Well, you did ask what’s gotten into me. Turns out it’s her.” Ana smirks. 

“Dear God, Ana. Just go. When I said let’s be friendly, I didn’t mean _that_ friendly.”

With a hearty laugh, she turns around and makes her way back to the car. Mariana waves again, looks very young for her 24 years. Juan Carlos supposes this makes Ana a cougar, or whatever they’re called. The older woman who manages to snag impressionable young things. 

He sees Ana say something to the woman who nods and then Ana is leaning across the console to place a tender kiss on Mariana’s lips. He places his own on Valentina and as they pull out of the drive, throws up one last wave. 

Maybe he watches the vehicle for a little too long. Maybe he waits until it disappears completely. With a final sigh, he walks back into his condo chattering away to Valentina, who giggles in response. 


	3. Los Ojos de Pablo

Pablo has never expected Mariana on his doorstep, not even when the two of them were together. So he finds it very surprising when he opens the door and she’s standing there looking very much lost and both shoulders covered in bags. 

The way her face looks downright astonished and confused at the same time. He knows that she and Cynthia share a look. By the time he turns around to check Cynthia, she has disappeared into the recesses of his apartment. Turning back to Mariana, he finds the space empty and quickly exits through the door to follow. 

“Mariana! Mariana, wait up!” he tries to call out to get her to stop, but she barrels ahead toward the exit to the complex. Only a hand on her shoulder halts her progress and when he spins her around, she falls into his arms in a mess of tears and choking sobs. 

“Hey, hey, what happened?” He tries to soothe but her whole body shakes and convulses with her sobs. He’s never seen her like this. Something terrible must have happened. “Regi? Vale?” It hurts to speak, both names raspy in his throat. 

This seems to jolt Mariana from her meltdown and she backs away from his body, errantly wiping the wetness from her eyes. She composes herself before she speaks. “I should have texted or called. I just had no place to go and…”

“Mariana, what’s going on? Why aren’t you at Ana’s?” 

A storm cloud passes across her face, the anguish he’d seen and felt in her earlier twisting her usually calm and lovely features. He doesn’t like this look on her, one he’s seen only a handful of times. 

“I don’t live with Ana anymore,” is her pained and whispered response. 

Since when? Pablo wants to ask. It’s been all of a few hours since the christening ended and last time he checked, Mariana had looked the picture of happiness while holding their daughter with the woman she…

Some sort of too late realization dawns on Pablo then, his face shifting much like Mariana’s hand. “That’s why you’re here. You need a place to stay.”

Mariana casts a doleful look at him, shuffles a bit on her feet. She looks embarrassed, out of place. Pablo wants to tell her that even though she shot down his proposal, she’s still the mother of his child and he cares for her, regardless. 

None of that comes out though because Mariana seems to be in the sharing mood, giving him the final piece of the puzzle as to why she couldn’t be with him in the way that he asked. 

“I’ve fallen for someone else.” She looks regretful and Pablo is sure that if it were possible, the viscous fluid of her heart would be leaking onto the ground. She’s always been a bleeding sort.

“Ana,” he finds the name forming in his mouth before he can understand why it’s come out at all. Like a pot-induced thought, something out of left field. Only with the way that Mariana looks, maybe it’s not. 

“I wanted to tell you, but I barely understand it myself.” Mariana wraps her arms around her midsection, working to hold herself together. 

Pablo places his hands on his hips and shakes his head, thinks about the woman back at his apartment who works for the one that the one standing in front of him has feelings for. _What a weird and crazy world._

“How long?” He asks, needing a timeline for some reason, to gauge the futility of most of his actions. 

“Since Valle, longer.” Mariana shrugs. “I don’t know. One day she was the hag from the hospital, the next I can’t imagine spending a second without her.”

“But you’re here on my doorstep,” Pablo motions rather obtusely. He’s never been good with the come-up. 

“Yes, I am,” Mariana shakes her head. “I shouldn’t have.” She flicks her eyes back to where his apartment is located. “I didn’t think this through.”

“I can give you some money to rent a place for a couple of days?” Pablo suggests. He thinks of Regina, his daughter that another woman named. Again, the one that Mariana is running from in a number of ways it seems. That much is obvious. 

“That’s sweet of you, Pablo, but I’ve already caused enough grief.” She touches his cheek, gives a half-hearted smile, and makes to leave. 

Pablo catches her gently by the arm. “I’m calling the motel down the street. That way you and Regi will be close. Just give this some time to blow over. Ana’s got to feel…” 

He tapers off, unsure of how to finish the sentence he’s started. Upset? Guilty? As stupidly in love with you as you are with her- if the look on her face at the christening was any indicator of how she feels now that Pablo has had more time to think about it?

“Say hello to Cynthia for me,” Mariana tries again for some higher spirits. 

This time he does let her leave. In his pocket, his cell is heavy, reminding him of what he’s told her he’d do. It’s the least he can offer for what appears to be a broken heart. When he dials the number and books the room, he tries not to think about pressing the woman’s name on his contacts and begging her to do something to stop Mariana’s ache.

The idea is willful and best, downright ludicrous at worst. Especially since she’s the cause of that ache, Pablo is almost sure. 

He doesn’t sleep that night even though Cynthia is curled up against his side. He’s awake when he gets a text, very late, from a drunken Ana Servìn. 

_I’ve messed up_ , it reads. 

Haven’t they all? He stares at the bright screen a moment before turning it over and laying it screen side down on the nightstand beside them. He rises early to the notification that he’s checked in to his reservation. He feels only slightly better reading it. 

——//——

Cynthia becomes a fixture at his apartment more often than not. They sort of meld together in a weird way that seems to work. It’s not long after the night that Mariana shows up though that someone else knocks on the door. 

He opens it, thinking it one of his rowdy buddies, but backpedals with the force of a shock when he meets a small woman with azure and narrowed eyes. Dressed impeccably, Ana stands on his doorstep with two drinks and an air of imprudence.

“Ana,” he squeaks, lost as to why she is standing on his doorstep. He spins when he hears Cynthia behind him. 

“Hey, Ana! Can you give me a few minutes? I’m just finishing up,” Cynthia waves and continues to work on an earring as she disappears. 

What is with her penchant for leaving him floundering at the door with other women? He wipes a hand along his mouth and leans against the frame, trying to adopt ease. 

“So good to see you and Cynthia still hitting it off,” Ana smiles falsely and tilts her head to glimpse behind him again. Cynthia is still nowhere in sight. 

“So characteristic of you to break my daughter’s mother’s heart,” he shoots back but then slaps a hand over his rogue mouth. Oops. Ana glares at him. He thinks the cups in her hand give way to her clenching. He immediately apologizes. “Sorry, sorry.”

“What did she tell you?” Ana’s face is unforgiving of his slip, imploring in wanting to know what he does. 

“Very little,” Pablo admits. But then he feels anger course through him. He points a finger. “But enough to understand that her feelings for you made her turn down my marriage proposal.”

With Ana standing before him, it no longer feels like the rejection it was, instead just confirmation that Mariana had her heart set on someone else. Which is fine. People move on. In some way, Pablo has done it multiple times with Mariana. 

Ana eyes him with an expression he can’t piece through. She bites the inside of her cheek. Her eyes never move off of his rollercoastering face and after his anger fades, he fidgets. They slide off of studying him eventually and peer behind him. When she sees that Cynthia still isn’t appearing, she takes a step closer and lowers her voice. “I told you that I messed up.” She looks at the ground as she says it. 

“So how can you fix it?” Pablo automatically shoots back and he’s surprised by the veracity of his own voice. He’s shocked he’s advocating their patching up whatever has happened between them. 

The thing about it is though is that whomever Mariana invites to share her life with romantically will also eventually be a part of Regina’s life. While the woman before him is a train wreck for a number of reasons, he’s pretty good at being crashed too. Moreover, he knows Ana has the means to make sure Mariana and Regi are taken care of, that Ana loves their daughter just as much as her own. He doesn’t have to worry about who Mariana might be introducing her to in the future because even though his pride has been wounded, he knows Ana is a good woman deep down. 

Pablo feels a presence behind him, Cynthia resting tentative fingers on his shoulder. Of course she’s showing up now when he’s gotten the nerve to ask a hard pressing question instead of in a super intense moment where it felt as if Ana’s mere gaze was eviscerating him into.

“Everything okay?” Her eyes go sort of deer in the headlights when she finally reads the mood between them. 

Ana’s face breaks into a dismissive look as she waves off the query and reaches into hand Cynthia her drink, which is taken hesitantly. 

“Pablo here was just telling me what a wonderful time the two of you have been having,” she says cheekily. 

“And Ana here was just telling me her plans to grovel at Mariana’s feet asking forgiveness,” Pablo shoots back. 

She looks like she’s bitten into something sour for a brief moment, probably the idea of getting on her knees for anyone a thought beneath her. But if she’s meant to patch up what’s been done, it might be needed. Mariana is not an easy woman to love but neither is Ana and from what he can tell, the very little he knows, Ana has taken a difficult situation and made it a mountain.

“Something like that, yes,” Ana finally agrees but her voice sounds anything but. 

Cynthia bypasses him with a kiss to the cheek and then starts following Ana down the hall. It’s funny how both women turn back to where he stands in the doorway when they think the other isn’t looking. One wondering what exactly was said before she arrived and the other one wondering when he grew a set of balls without alcohol swimming in his system. 

Feeling somewhat like a victorious cock in a fight, Pablo rolls his shoulders and smiles to himself for holding his ground against Ana Servin. He assumes not many have been able to do the same. He thinks about her text from before and deflates. 

——//——

The next time he sees Ana is under slightly better pretenses and weirdly not expected either. A few months have passed but when he opens his door to begin his weekend with Regina, there stands his daughter in the hands of none other than the women he combated the last time he saw her.

She raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow in his direction when he makes no move to take his daughter. Ana shifts on her feet from the weight of Regina in her arms and the packed to the gills embroidered backpack (so her doing) on her shoulder. He wants to tell her it’s only the weekend. He doesn’t.

He glances down at her feet, her small little legs. A smile twists the corners of his mouth. “So how are your knees?”

The question is met with an immediate glare. “Fine, thank you,” Ana growls and shoves Regina into his arms. She barely lets him get a good hold of her before she unshoulders the backpack as well and loops it around his free arm. His assessment was right. It is very heavy. “Especially since I’m on them a lot more these days.” His head shoots up and she smiles saucily. “Mariana seems to like me that way.”

He chokes on his own saliva, eyes going wide in a comical way to anyone other than him. Well then. He supposes they’ve made up, more than once it sounds. He balls his hand into a fist and beats on his chest lightly to get ahold of the wracking coughs coming from his throat. _I deserved that, I guess_ , he thinks. 

“You’re taking care of her?” he asks and then hates himself immediately. Wrong question. He knows that Ana knows what he means but since they have had this slightly antagonistic way of dealing with one another since Mariana tried to come and stay with him the night of the girl’s christening, she answers in much the same way.

With a head tilt, her eyes sparkle with truth and mirth. “In more ways than one.” Ana reaches out and rubs his shoulder in a gesture that feels oddly motherly. “You don’t have to worry about her.”

Pablo sighs and then looks up and down the hall, back into his apartment where no one is but he still does it out of habit. “I know you think I’m a screw-up but I’m trying. I love Regi. I loved Mariana.” These are truths too. 

Ana’s face goes pensive. She shakes her head, purses her lips, and folds her arms across her chest. He’s surprised she’s still standing here with only the two of them to talk. “We can’t choose who we love. It just sort of...happens.” She sighs. “Maybe sometimes in spite of us.”

Pablo doesn’t know what to say. He’s not exactly the most eloquent in even the best of situations, more suited for rowdy get-togethers with his boys. Mariana was always the one to put words to what they were doing, good ones at least, while he had bounced back and forth on what he felt until she had moved on without him. 

Ana comes out of her introspection to look Pablo up and down. He feels like he’s at her dinner table again, being sized up to prove his worth as a person who loved the woman she does, as a person who also loves the girl in his arms. “While you haven’t always gone about it the way I would have…” she trails off then shakes her head again, mutters ‘neither have I’ under her breath, and then tries again, “I know deep down you’re a good guy.”

He supposes this is the point he was trying to make earlier. That even with his mistakes, he could be a good dad and a great co-parent with Mariana. After all, it’s what Regi deserved. 

Now his turn to shift, he feels the conversation cresting like a boat on a sandbar. Ana seems to get this too. “So any plans for your weekend?” Pablo asks, trying to sound congenial instead of curious. So sue him— (like he threatened her) he is a man who finds two women together hot.

“I’m sure Mariana and I will find something to keep ourselves busy,” Ana responds cryptically, leaning forward to kiss Regina’s forehead and run her perfectly manicured hands through the girl’s dark hair. “See you later, Pablo.”

He should let her leave but he has this weird way of blurting out stuff in her presence, like she’s one of those cops in those crime movies he sees who plays it completely cool until the poor moron in front of them is weeping out their secrets.

While the threat of a breakdown is nonexistent, he finds himself stuttering out more when he should have stopped talking ten minutes ago. “I...I always thought it was odd that Mariana latched onto you, you know?”

He doesn’t know why he says it. Ana finally turns to look him square in the eyes. “Me either,” she answers honestly. She sighs. “Lord knows I’m not the easiest woman to get to know.”

This makes Pablo smile and he bounces Regina in his arms. For once, Ana seems human, fallible. Not the one that sat across from him giving him the third degree or planting a cell phone to track him in his backpack. 

“I promise not to smoke this weekend,” he teases. 

For a minute, the woman looks like she wants to strangle him but then sees his jest. Her eyes squint and she flexes her jaw a little before a smile pulls on her lips. “You almost had me there.” She turns. “Also, there are other food groups than pizza,” Ana says as she makes her way out.

“Will you follow me to make sure I’m feeding Regi organic?” Pablo calls out afterward. 

The door closes on her, an amused laugh withering behind the glass. Pablo smiles again and retreats to spend the weekend with his daughter. Their daughter. His, Mariana’s, even Ana’s too. Somehow, it’s just become that way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Ceci's point of view


End file.
